Briton feared dead after desert hold up

12:23PM BST 15 Jul 2001

AN English tourist is feared dead after he and his girlfriend were ambushed by a gunman in the Australian outback.

The couple, who have not been named, were flagged down last night by a man claiming he had engine trouble on the desert highway near the tiny outpost of Barrow Creek, 175 miles north of Alice Springs. When the Briton went to help, his girlfriend heard what she thought was a gun shot, said Bob Fields southern region commander of the Northern Territory Police.

The gunman then returned to the couple's Kombi van and punched the terrified 27-year-old woman, who is also English, before tying her wrists and ankles with tape and forcing her into the back of his van. The woman made a daring escape when her captor was distracted and spent more than four hours hiding in scrub as he hunted her with a torch and dog.

She eventually managed to flag down a motorist in the early hours of today and raise the alarm. Commander Fields said the woman's escape from the man was miraculous.

But Commander Fields held out little hope for the missing man. He said: "Clearly, my view is that some terrible fate has befallen the boyfriend."